love and deception

When I was in the sixth grade, my parents packed everything and moved so that we could be closer to our grandparents. It was tough for us, kids, to say goodbye to friends. Somehow we made new friends, my dad found a new job, and we did alright in a new town.

Or so I thought.

I was in junior high when one of my friends mentioned that her mother knew my dad.

“How does she know him?”
“They worked at the same place. You know, the company that disappeared without paying employees. They both worked there… not for long, obviously.”
“What? What company? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, I thought you knew…”

I asked my mom when I got home.

She told me that he did indeed work for a construction company. That was his first job after the move. They worked their employees to death for a month. My dad had to do some physical labor, albeit they had hired him as a sales rep. And, one day, poof, they were gone. The employees were left with an empty office and without pay.
My parents never said anything to us when this was happening. They always put food on the table and sent us to school without us noticing. My mom said that they didn’t want to worry us.

I started to look at my parents and the world a little differently after that.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Brilliant Disguise.”
“Tell us about a time when someone had you completely fooled, where the wool was pulled right over your eyes and you got hoodwinked, but good. Was it a humorous experience or one you’d rather forget? What was the outcome?”

Like this:

3 thoughts on “love and deception”

I think about the number of times people in this world get beaten down by people who take advantage of a population that is unlikely to get justice, and sometimes it makes me want to scream. That must have been such a stressful time for your parents. At least it was only a month, but still, geez, that’s simply awful.